The opening of a new exhibition in Canberra on the search for the origin of life across the solar system has focused attention on Australian involvement in future human exploration of Mars, said Mars Society Australia President Guy Murphy yesterday. To Mars and Beyond: Search for the Origins of Life opens at the National Museum of Australia on 13 December 2001 and continues until 26 May 2002. This exhibition features everything from astronaut Andy Thomas’ spacesuit to a piece of Mars rock, and visitors can even travel to Mars and across its red surface in a 3D virtual reality theatre styled to mimic the interior of a spaceship. Mars Society Australia even aims to showcase its prototype Mars rover vehicle named HOP in the exhibition during 2002.